MediaLounge: Download And Installation

# Edition 2023

# Our MediaLounge Audiophile server distribution is provided for your convenience. The MediaLounge Audio Server is strictly based on the following distribution on which we have applied all the instructions provided on our website in order to make your job easier, however we strongly suggest to read our tutorials to get a full control on your audio system and customize your installation.

# for the Raspberry PI 4
# Raspberry Pi OS Lite (bullseye) with Linux 6.1.19 – https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/operating-systems/
# Source code: https://github.com/raspberrypi

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# for barebone x64 PC on amd64 platform (Intel NUC, Brix, htpc, …)
# we recommend Debian 12 (Bookworm) or Ubuntu Live Server
# Source code: https://github.com/Debian
# Source code: https://www.releases.ubuntu.com/22.10/

Read and understand our terms and conditions of use:

https://linuxaudiofoundation.org/terms-and-conditions-of-uses/

by using MediaLounge Audiophile Server you fully understand and agree with our terms and conditions.

Building from scratch:
To build your own audiophile home theater server, simply download the corresponding distribution (see links above) and apply all instruction available in our dedicated pages.

Image disk are provided to get started quickly with our audiophile home theater server and are under the same license upon which the distribution is based (see links above for more info).

# download from github

https://github.com/linuxaudiofoundation/medialounge

# download the image disk file

SERVER FOR RASPBERRY PI 4 EDITION 2023 Debian 11 (Kernel 6.1.19 – Kodi 20.1)

DOWNLOAD MediaLounge Edition 2023 For Raspberry PI 4

Debian 11 (Bullseye – Kernel 6.1.19) img disk
KODI 20.1 (HW Decoding), MPD 0.24 PCM/DSD, myMPD 10.2.6

Download, extract and verify the integrity of image disk

#

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SERVER ON PC/BAREBONE EDITION 2023 Debian 12
(Testing – UEFI Boot – MPD 0.23.12 – myMPD 10.2.6 – Kodi 20.1 with HW Decoding – HEVC – 4K – HDR10)

DOWNLOAD MediaLounge (Debian 12 Server amd64) Ed. 2023 For barebone PC 64Bit

Download, extract and verify the integrity of image disk

 

 

 

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# Example of barebone PC tested: Gigabyte Brix GB-BXBT-2807 or Intel NUC NUC7CJYHN / NUC7JYB

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Clone Image Disk to Raspberry PI 4 SD Card

# create your SD Card using Win32DiskImager on Windows

Clone Image Disk To Barebone PC (AMD64)

# as a server it is recommended to clone to your internal hard drive or ssd (usually /dev/sda device) from GParted Live USB/CD to fix GPT and resize the root partition.

Read the tutorial on how to clone image disk and resize root partition

# MediaLounge Home Theater Server is available as well and contains almost all services from MusicLounge
# with the addition of Kodi 20.1 (nexus) media player software to take a full benefit of your audiophile
# and home theater system (including hardware decoding, HEVC, 4K60fps, HDR10 support).

# connect your USB DAC to the USB port of your board
# connect your device to your LAN network using Ethernet cable (not WIFI)
# optional: connect an USB remote control sensor if needed
# connect the HDMI cable to your AV Receiver
# and balanced XLR cables from DAC to your stereo pre-amp

# on first boot, read this tutorial to find the IP address of the server
https://linuxaudiofoundation.org/musiclounge-ip-of-the-server/
# then open an SSH session (with putty.exe on Windows or Terminal on Linux or Mac),
# login username: pi
# and password: musiclounge

# why user ‘pi’?
# cause the distro was initially done for Raspberry PI, pi is short and all our tutorials use pi user. Obviously you’re free to create another user.

login as: pi
pi@192.168.1.140's password:
.
.
pi@medialounge:~$

Raspberry PI 4

# Raspberry PI 4 with RaspPI OS, simply run raspi-config and select Advanced Options > Expand Filesystem and reboot

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AMD64 – Barebone PC/NUC

# Extend your hard disk using gparted on live distro or from a desktop PC is easy
# https://gparted.org/livecd.php

Read the tutorial on how to clone image disk and resize root partition

# TROUBLESHOOTING: read the FAQ if after installation onto your hard drive you fall into BusyBox (initramfs). However, it is most certainly due to a corrupt installation.

# reboot & reopen an SSH session and login as pi user to continue

# auto mount your music library at startup is easy

# EXTERNAL USB HARD DRIVE: click this link to read how to install your music library on powered usb hard drive directly connected to your audio server

# NAS storage or Windows share point available on your LAN network read the following

# tutorial: https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-mount-cifs-windows-share-on-linux/

# edit fstab type

# add the following line at end and change IP address and name of the directory and username/password

# example1: connect as guest to \\MyNAS\Music directory (change to the IP of your NAS server and the name of shared directory)

//192.168.x.x/Music /mnt/media cifs username=guest,password=,vers=2.0,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.device-timeout=10 0 0

# example2: enter your IP and change myname/mypasswd to your values:

//192.168.x.x/Music /mnt/media cifs username=myname,password=mypasswd,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.device-timeout=10s 0 0

# example3: with _netdev to wait for network:

//192.168.x.x/Music /mnt/media cifs username=guest,password=,_netdev,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.device-timeout=10 0 0

# example4: SMB version 2 with pi user:group and 755 permissions and dummy user/passw

//192.168.x.x/music /mnt/media cifs username=guest,password=dummypw,vers=2.0,uid=1000,gid=1000,dir_mode=0755,file_mode=0755,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.device-timeout=10 0 0

# example 5 with SMB v1 (outdated version of smb share):

//192.168.x.x/Music /mnt/media cifs username=guest,password=,vers=1.0,_netdev,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.device-timeout=10 0 0

# example 6 using systemd to check network availability and mount before mpd:

//192.168.x.x/Music /mnt/media cifs rw,uid=1000,gid=1000,nofail,username=dummyusr,password=dummypw,iocharset=utf8,x-systemd.before=mpd.service,x-systemd.after=network-online.target,x-systemd.after=systemd-resolved.service 0 0

# CTRL+O to save
# CTRL+X to exit

# before rebooting it’s important to test your fstab configuration

# check if the Music library is mounted correctly

# edit and check fstab configuration again if the command return an error

# reboot and restart SSH session

# open an SSH session and login as pi to check the shared point

# list all shared point type:

# only cifs:

# check if the Music library is mounted correctly

if the music files are not present, go back to the above step to fix your fstab entry, reboot and check again

# everything is correctly configured we can update the music library database, exit the ssh session and

# update the music library (database) is needed on first run, to update database

# download the dedicated DroidMyMPD app for Android and update your music  library and play your favorite song,

# or you can open your Internet browser to type the hostname (http://medialounge) or IP address of the audio server,

# Update database on MediaLounge Edition 2023
  

# Be patient updating your music library can take a while, 1500 albums/19000 songs is about 10mn to be updated

# select the default audio output only

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# Adding media source to Kodi

# IMPORTANT NOTICE for Windows network SMB share in Kodi 20
# make sure to configure your NAS with shared folders using SMB v2 or v3 and with
# access to everyone (no user/pass)

# setup KODI SMB service with minimum version SMBv2 and maximum SMBv3
# browse the network from a PC and check if you have a full access to shared
# folders without needing to enter your credential
# then in Kodi create your movies, TV shows, etc. source points (i.e. //MYSERVER/Video ) with
# a dummy username and password (like username: dummyuser and paswd: dummypsw )

# setup the Kodi SYSTEM > AUDIO > and choose the correct number of speakers
# activate the passthrough to take benefit of Dolby, DTS, trueHD, etc.

# do not forget to add the Pulse Heigh CEC adapter ( https://www.pulse-eight.com ) to be able to use the TV remote control even with the Intel NUC which have a poor CEC implementation (you may need to deactivated internal IR Receiver and HDMI CEC in Intel NUC Bios). However, HDMI CEC of Samsung and other TV could be bugged or not compatible also NUC Internal IR is broken depending the firmware available in this case we recommend to use an universal remote control like Logitech harmony or an RC6 remote control + its usb IR receiver.

# Congrats!
# The audiophile server and the Kodi Home Theater are ready.